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Night-time foot pain in children

My daughters suffer from pain in their feet at night. They describe it as having "cold" feet, so I can only guess at poor circulation? Their father recognised the symptoms and recalled having the same problems as a small child. My daughters are 4 and 2 years. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Unless your daughters really have something seriously wrong with them, I highly doubt that at age 2 and 4 years they are demonstrating symptoms of poor circulations. It is certainly not common for such young children to be complaining of foot pain, even when there is justification for it. But it is especially hard for me to associate their relating feet feeling cold to pain, short of their having frost bite or sudden arterial occlusion, and I certainly don't think that is the case. But asking why they have pain, and especially only at night, without even some sort of story which elucidates on it is no more reasonable than asking what's wrong if they perhaps had a headache of a stomach ache and expecting a meaningful answer. First, get as much detail as you can to the extent that your young children can offer it to you, and then seek out a podiatrist who specializes in or has a good deal of interest in treating the feet of children.

i have had foot pains since i was about five all the way up till now( i am now 16) it is always the same foot (right) and when i was little i would wake up crying in pain on the side and bottom of my foot the doctor said it was just growing pains but my parents never really were sure thats what was causing it. i would suggest taking them to the doctor to see what they think because i remember having it when i was a child and at times the pain was horrible

I have a son who is 4 and wakes up at night in tears because his feet hurt. I have to give him motrin and I also rub myoflex on his feet. I feel bad for him because I know they hurt and I have no reason why. He has had this problem for about the last year or so. It does not seem to be getting better either. I also thought growing pains but now I am not sure. I just know he wakes up in pain about once or twice a week.

Kohler's disease, an avascular necrosis of the navicular bone of the foot comes to mind, but that certainly does not constitute a definitive suggestion of a diagnosis. See a podiatrist who is into treatment of children's foot problems. There is no such thing as "growing pains," no matter how many wives-tale references you might find regarding them.

I was looking up foot pain in children and found this site. Ironically, I have the same problems and some of you. My 6 year old son just went to bed and started to cry because his feet "are cold" and hurt terribly. I just gave him motrin. I asked my doctor about it last year and he said there was nothing in the text books about having "cold feet". This has been going on for about 1 year but it does not happen all the time - just once in a while - so it's not a chronic pain.

Thank you for having this Forum for Foot Health problem. This is an excellent idea.

I have 6 year old who is exactly having the same problem. It only happens at bed time / night especially when it is cold. It's been like this since when he was two. Although It does not happen all the time but when it happens it is really painful.
He wakes up at night in tears because his feet hurt. I have to massage his feet and make him wear thick socks to make it warm to relieve the pain. And it works.
I have no clue or any reasons why it is happening and most of the time it happens at night when it is cold. It does not happen on summer season only in cold season.

Do you think it is related to Diabetes? Or just poor blood circulation, restless legs or perhaps Diabetic neuropathies (click this for info on Diabetic neuropathies)
I have an older son who is 9 yrs old and 2 yrs old daughther, they don't ave this cold-feet syndrome.

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***********************************************************Neither you not the previous poster has made it clear whether the child's foot is actually cold or if he/she simply perceives it to be cold. If, indeed, the child's foot is actually sufficiently cold so as to cause real pain, you need to be consulting a circulatory specialist.

My sons also face the similar problem. It is observed during cold season. my opinion is bcos of contrction of muscles in cold and hence pain. By massaging with warm coconut oil, the pain get subsidise.

Hey! My four year old daughter's "feet hurt" too! I've thought maybe growing pains, but they aren't supposed to last so long.. and ONLY hurt at night. Of course, she could be too busy to notice during the day.. I sometimes wonder if it's just that she likes foot rubs before bed, but she insists its real and is very consistent about it. I've tried to get her to describe the pain and she has also described it as a cold feeling. They aren't cold.. but when digging for a description, that's a word she's used. It seems to be VERY hard to describe. My friend's three year old has had this issue as well. So I think it IS common in some children. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong. My daughter used to have night terrors and wasn't a great sleeper.. but now that she's better at describing and meeting her own needs, and sleeps better, she never wakes in pain. She just feels it before going to sleep. She says that's the only time she gets it, and once in a great while in the morning when she first wakes. I have wondered if her arches are forming and she can feel it, or if she's just adjusting to increased exercise. She says "they hurt so bad!" but I can tell it's not terrible because she's calm when she says it and falls asleep shortly after complaining. I don't make a big deal out of it and she doesn't get much reward for it, besides a 30 second foot rub.. but she knows she can just ask for a rub without complaining. So while I don't think its a big deal, I do think it's real. Anyway, mostly just wanted to say, "me too."

My 5 year old boy also suffers from night time foot pain...sometimes it is only one foot other nights both feet...sometimes he simply cannot sleep at all from the pain. He has not been able to explain the pain other than it hurts and is on the base of his feet. His activity level doesn't seem to affect whether he will have the pains or not. I have simply been massaging him and if the pain is unbearable for him I give him painkillers.
I read an article in a girly magazine written by Joanna Griggs (an Australian swimmer) that her son also suffered for years from this particular problem and she always put it down to growing pains but then actually finally discovered what it was...but for the life of me I can't find any information on it as I don't remember what it was called. So frustrating and I feel for the little man as I know he really is in agony..so off to the podiatrists and hopefully a good one who can diagnose and help him.

We have struggled with foot pain for several years now. I am up because we just had another case. My daughter is 9 and we've been to 2 podiatrists and a pediatric orthopedic specialist at Vanderbilt University. So far we haven't gotten a lot of answers. After tonight's incident I'm definately going to me more demanding about searching for the cause. Hers is only at night, only one foot and she wakes up shaking in tears from the pain. She has never said anything about the foot being cold. I gave her ibuprofen and rubbed as best I could and after 1 hour she calmed and has gotten back to sleep. I hate to see her in so much pain! I can't seem to find any help - all blood tests have been done to rule out medical conditions and were normal. I think the next step is that they want to look at her back, but the pain is always only in the foot..... what to do?

My 3 year old daughter has been waking up 3-4 nights a week in tears from foot pain for about a year. Sometimes both feet bother her sometimes only one does. She is fine during the day but will wake repeatedly at night until I give her Ibuprofen. She has never described it as cold. I have noticed a correlation of pain to days that she is particularly bouncy. Our pediatrician said not to worry about it if it does not affect her day time activities. My older daughter (14) used to wake at night crying but I don't recall it being from foot pain. She has been successfully braced for scoliosis. Recently I mentioned the foot pain to her orthopedist (a very highly regarded doctor, head of our Children's Hospital in a very urban area). He said he hears complaints of it a lot and not to worry about it. Of course I am looking into it which is how I found this site. The Ibuprofen takes care of the pain but I do worry. Although I'm not sure if seeing many doctors and worrying more is the answer.

I have been all over the net tonight as we just had another episode of the same thing in my 5 1/2 year old. There are tons of people asking about this but so far no answers or even leads really. I have a friend who says it is dehydration and I have read that muscles cramp when dehydrated and I have even been able to see a correlation here with that. I still would like to know what it tis though. Very frustrating.

My little girl has been suffering with night time pain in her right foot since she was 18 months old, i took her to my GP and he said that it was just growing pains i wasn't happy with that and demanded xrays to be done, they came back normal but 2 and a half years on the pain has got so much worse, took her to a different GP who sent her to the hospital to be seen by a physio, we had further xrays done and they now show damage to part of the bone which is restricting the blood supply to that part of the foot which causes the awful pain, It is called KOHLER DISEASE 9 times out 10 it heals its self but in my daugthers case it has too much damage and she now needs to have her foot put in a cast for 8 weeks to hold the foot in place, hopefully this will sort my poor little girls pain out.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Köhler_disease
Hope this link helps.

My 6-year old son also complains of severe foot pain at night in both feet. He has always had a very high threshold for pain so it really bothers me that something may be seriously wrong. But, I have been researching all over the net and I believe it is Kohlers disease (cut off circulation - usually temporary - for a year). We are going to let it be for awhile and see if it does indeed work itself out - if not we will pursue treatment further. My son is VERY active and loves to do sports, so this does worry me. We will give him motrin for the pain in the meantime.

My 6-year old son also complains of severe foot pain at night in both feet. He has always had a very high threshold for pain so it really bothers me that something may be seriously wrong. But, I have been researching all over the net and I believe it is Kohlers disease (cut off circulation - usually temporary - for a year).

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Congratulations! I would suggest that yours is the first possibly relevant lay post since this thread was begun. If you will look back at the previous posts you will see that in August I stated that avascular necrosis of the navicular comes to mind. That condition is also know as Kohler's disease of the navicular. That is not to say that either of us have hit on the diagnosis, but at least we have come up with a condition that is know to manifest itself in part as night-time foot pain in children.

Is it real? Why am i here? Because my 4 year old son just had ANOTHER bout of hurting feet. This occurs occasionally, ONLY at night, and sometimes in both feet. He has in the past woke up screaming in pain. All i can do is rub them, he insists this makes it better. He is not prone to exaggeration or whining. I did this time get him to point out an exact location of where the pain is, and he indicated it was the TOP of his foot, over the arch. He is otherwise completely healthy and active.

My 4 yr old has a similar complaint. She wakes up at night once or twice a week screaming and crying about her "leg". When you ask her to point to where it hurts it is the top of her foot and/or her ankle. Massaging the area helps, heating pad, and children's motrin. Sometimes she casually complains about her "legs" being sore in the morning and limps a little and then she is fine. Healthy child otherwise except food allergies. Could it be a vitamin deficiency? Any other ideas of what might cause this? We had blood work and xrays done a year ago and nothing was suspicious. She does not say her foot is cold and I have not noticed it being cold.